Smartphone Use – Is It Affecting Your Health?

We all own a smartphone. We use it so much that we cannot function without smartphones. In fact, you’re more likely to be reading this on your smartphone than any other device. What are some of the impacts that it has on our health?

Neck Pain

WhatsApp, Telegram, Snapchat are just 3 of the most popular messaging apps that we use to text our friends and family. Statistics have shown that these apps have contributed to the rise in texting and the amount of time we spend on our smartphones. Not to mention other video streaming applications that we use on our smartphone. It may seem like a harmless activities, but the increasing amount of time we spend with our neck pointing downwards is not good. When using our phone, we tend to tilt our head forward at a 60 degree angle, which puts our neck under a lot of extra strain. This contributes to a forward head posture and if you read out article on neck pain and headache, it is a big cause for it.

Wrist Pain

One of the biggest change in human behaviour in recent years is how much we use our wrist and thumb. Because of the smartphone, we use our wrists and thumb exponentially more than just a short decade ago. This gives rise to an increased prevalence of carpal tunnel syndrome. It manifests as pain in the wrist and fingers, reduced strength, and some numbness in the hands.

Obesity

Another lifestyle change that happened with the advent of the smartphone is online services. We can now buy clothes, order food, do our banking, do our grocery, and even meet your friends (via video call) from the comfort of our sofas. This of course means that our lives are increasingly sedentary and contribute to the growing problem of obesity. The sedentary lifestyle can also affect people’s moods, physical strength, and energy level.

While it is very unlikely that we stop using our smartphone, it is always an option to be more mindful about how we use our smartphone. What posture do we adopt when using it? Is it possible to do something (like ordering food) quicker if we just walk a few hundred meters ourselves to get it? Are we getting enough exercise?  These are just some of the questions we should be asking ourselves to avoid our smartphone addiction becoming a physical health hazard too. Below is a quick video of what is the best posture to adopt when using a smartphone. Should you have any questions, feel free to contact us. Also, check out our instagram page for more useful videos.